Someone stole a vintage book from SLO’s Dallidet Adobe. Now, public tours are suspended
The Dallidet Abobe & Gardens has ended its tour schedule earlier than planned this year after a visitor stole an 1890s book from the historic home in downtown San Luis Obispo.
The nonprofit History Center of San Luis Obispo County, which owns and operates the property at 1185 Pacific St., said that during a guided tour on the weekend of Aug. 24-25, someone took an 1893 edition of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel “The Scarlet Letter” from a shelf inside the home.
The center allows public access on weekends, and the History Center had planned to continue tours through this month during its traditional tour season, which was scheduled from March through September.
But the public access has been canceled pending a review of its security process.
The Dallidet’s garden remains open for rental for private events, and the History Center’s Soup Tasting on Oct. 27 will go forward as planned.
“While the book is not especially valuable — copies are available on auction websites for as little as $10 — the true value was the connection to our county’s past,” History Center Executive Director Thomas Kessler said in a press release. “Our predecessors in this county lived — technology aside — surprisingly similar lives to the ones we lead today, and a recognizable title on the bookshelf helped our visitors to experience that connection.”
The theft has been reported to police, and Kessler said that “we would gratefully accept the return of the book with no questions asked.”
Kessler told The Tribune that as of Thursday morning, police hadn’t contacted the center about any updates in the case, nor has the book been returned.
He said the History Center keeps a careful record of items in the home, and noticed a gap on the shelves. The staff had taken a photo documenting the book.
Kessler said the History Center preserved the 1850s home as it was when the Dallidet family lived there, and it’s “less a museum than a moment of our county’s history frozen in time.”
No roped off areas or encased sections to keep the public away from notable possessions had been set up previously.
No cameras current exist inside the dwelling, though they are located in outside areas of the facility, Kessler said.
The collection of keepsakes in the home aren’t particularly valuable, but they represent historical significance, Kessler said.
Anyone with information, or who wishes to return “The Scarlet Letter,” is asked to call Kessler at 805-543-0638 or send an email info@historycenterslo.org.
This story was originally published September 5, 2019 at 1:58 PM.
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